The Insatiable Rich
Some sobering facts by Hendrik Van den Berg, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, from his article “Our Growing Income Inequality (It's NOT an Accident)”
Growing Income Gap
- Forty years ago, the minimum wage provided 25% more real purchasing power than it does today. In 1968, the minimum wage was $1.60 per hour. $1.60 would buy about $9.00 worth of goods and services today. Today, a person working full time at the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour lives below the poverty line.
- For the past thirty years, virtually all income growth in the U.S. has been captured by the top 10% of income earners, while the average real income for the remaining 90% has not changed for 30 years.
- In 2009, the average non-supervisory worker earned $18.62 per hour. However, in 1972 the real purchasing power of the average real non-supervisory wage was the equivalent